And here we were, thinking the Ekiti governor, Ayodele Fayose is the new soul of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The national leadership of the party said today that the governor is causing confusion in the party. It said he is behind the plan to hold the South-West zonal congress in Akure on Saturday despite the court order which asked the party to suspend the exercise.

This was made known the the party’s national secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo, who spoke to journalists in Abuja today.

It will be recalled that Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court in Lagos, issued an order restraining the party from going ahead with its zonal congress.

The judge had ruled on an ex parte application brought before him on Thursday by the South-West Zonal Secretary, Chief ‘Pegba Otemolu – noting that the order remains until Otemolu’s suit is determined.

But on Friday, the fiery governor visited the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, and insisted that the congress would go ahead.

“Governor Fayose is not a member of the National Working Committee of the PDP, but he’s causing confusion with his utterances,” Oladipo said. “We are not dabbling into his government and he has no right to tell us how to run the party here. We have an order of the court stopping the congress. The governor cannot overrule the court.

“He should behave like other governors who do not dabble into the running of the party at the national level. He should learn from Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State who respect the party and the President of the country.

“The order of the court was even published in three national dailies and therefore, he can’t deny he was not aware.

“Our National Legal adviser who is the Chief Legal Adviser of the part, Mr. Victor Kwon, has advised that we comply with the order and we are complying with it. We are not above the law of the land.”

 

The governor responded today, speaking through his media assistant, Lere Olayinka.

“Fayose is not a member of the NWC, he isnot a member of the congress committee but he was invited as a member of the party.” he said. “The congress committee is in Akure and that’s why we are attending. Oladipo is an interested party. The governor is interested in the smith-running of the party. The party is not run on the pages of the newspaper.

“If the national chairman said he was not aware of the court order as at Friday, why trying to stop the congress then? Fayose is not interested in any crisis. “